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HISTORY 



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MACKINAW 

'" HISTORY 



H Critique 

ON 

DR. JOHN R. BAILEY'S BROCHURE 

ENTITLED 

MACKINAW, 

FORMERLY MICHILIMACKINAC. 



BY SAMUEL F. COOK. 



AUTHOR'S EDITION. 



LANSING, MICHIGAN. 
1895. 






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press of 

IRobect SmCtb & Co. 

lansing, Aicb. 



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MACKINAW IN HISTORY. 

It was with a feeling" of satisfaction that I 
took up a recent pamphlet of 220 pag-es, bear- 
ing- the title, "Mackinaw, formerly Michili- 
mackinac. Looking- backwards to about the 
time of the flood, and forward to the present 
time. By Col. John R. Bailey," for many years 
Post surgeon at Fort Mackinaw. In view of 
Dr. Bailey's long- residence at Mackinaw -and 
vicinity, and the opportunities thus afforded 
for historical research, I felt certain that I 
should find not only a pleasing- recital of well 
ascertained facts, but a possible solution of 
questions which to me have seemed undeter- 
mined. But in scanning- these pag-es for 
evidence of original research or answers to 
puzzling- queries, I met not only disappoint- 
ment but an astounding- array of inaccuracies 
of statement, at points where it seems inex- 
cusable. 

The title of the first chapter seems mislead- 
ing — "Mackinaw, formerly Michilimackinac." 

To the modern reader, Mackinaw is a lovely 



Machinaiv in History. 



island in the straits connecting- Lakes Michi- 
gan and Huron, while Michilimackinac is, as 
it was under both the French and British 
regimes, the name of a region of indefi- 
nite extent bordering on and including 
those straits. To the careful reader of those 
well nigh inexhaustible mines of fact and 
fiction, the Jesuit Relations, this fact cannot 
fail to be apparent. It was only after the 
British had located on the island what the}- 
intended to be a permanent occupation, and 
Governor General Haldimand had signified 
what the name of the new fort should be, that 
the name gradually assumed the shortened 
form, and finally became localized. The list 
of spellings of the name of this part of the 
country, given on page 30 of this book, could 
be readily doubled by a patient reader, who 
would be impressed only with the slight edu- 
cation of the writer and not at all by an}- idea 
of evolution of language. The following is a 
fair sample of the spelling in the average 
ofl&cial letter of those days: 

MkhilimackitiaCy July 2(p, ijSo. 
Dear Friend: I am sorry to acquaint you of the 
yussag-e I geet hier from Leake Muschagan being heir 



Mackinaw in History. 



plying between Mackeina and Mackina Island, etc. 

Norman McKay, 
Master of the Felicity., 

The Indian deed of the island g-iven in 1781 
says that it was called by the Canadians "La 
Grosse Isle;" and as they constituted the bulk 
of the white population of the reg^ion at that 
time, that must be regarded as its true historic 
name. 

Our author seems to delig-ht chiefly in the 
indians and the unsubstantial traditions which 
have been wafted forward from the dark 
ag-es on this continent, and althoug-h a larg-e 
portion of the book is devoted to the tribal 
wars and massacres which caused extensive 
chang-es of habitat, he has failed to note the 
connection between all this and a history of 
Mackinaw, as well as the fact that among- all 
the tribes who frequented that region Mack- 
inaw Island was a sacred spot where they 
gathered at varying intervals to appease the 
wrath of the Great Manitou, or as a place of 
safety when in fear of their foes. Large vil- 
lages stopped there on their way to and from 
their hunting grounds for rest and worship; 
but none made it a permanent home. 



Mackinaw in History. 



The claim made on page 25, that "1700- 
1701. Before and after these last dates the 
capital and the metropolis of the Province 
of Michilimackinac was on the island of the 
same name, in the straits of Michilimackinac. 
It was not only the seat of justice and base of 
supplies, but the center of trade of a vast ter- 
ritory. It was the headquarters of French 
traders and trappers and their Couriers de Bois 
and white and indian employes;" is absolutely 
without foundation. The French were too 
politic to in any way offend the superstitions 
of the Indians, and were too intent on securing- 
their good will to establish a fort and trading 
station on a spot sacred to their Deit}-, and 
where they laid away their dead. The Doctor 
may have been misled in this by the Rev. 
Chrysostom Verwyst, who states in his "Mis- 
sionary labors of Marquette, Mesnard and 
Allouez," that it was there (on the island) the 
mission of St. Ignatius was founded before it 
was established at Point St. Ignace." But 
Mr. Verwyst had failed to appreciate the no- 
madic character of the indians of that period, 
and the conditions under which Marquette 
found a large number of them on the island. 



Mackinaw in History. 



and at once began his work among them. It 
was simply that a large village was there 
making inquiry of the Deity as to their plans 
for the future, when he arrived; he made their 
acquaintance and preached the gospel to them, 
and when they went away, he went with them. 
Mackinaw island was never occupied by the 
French either as a mission site, a trading 
point or a military post. It is entirely safe to 
say that the flag of France never floated on 
the island during the period of its ascendency 
in that region. The French relied more on 
their suaviter in modo for success than did the 
British, and established fewer places of mili- 
tary defense. On the neighboring mainland 
shore of East Moran bay, however, their 
defenses were in accord with the military 
ideas of that time. 

Sixty-eight pages of this book are used for 
the recital of the tale of the Pontiac con- 
spiracy and the massacre at Michilimackinac, 
taken from Parkman's history, into which it 
had been copied from Henry's Travels. This 
blood-curdling narrative of the effort of the 
indians to free themselves from British dom- 
ination, by the destruction on June 4, 1763, of 



8 Mackinaw in History. 

the Engrlish in and about Fort Michilimack- 
inac, seems entirely foreign to the subject at 
hand. The fort was on the southern main- 
land, a short distance west of the present vil- 
lage of Mackinaw City. It is evident that in 
those days it was a lovely spot, but devoid of 
either a harbor protected from the winds, or 
any natural defenses. Why each succeeding 
would-be-historian of Mackinaw must incor- 
porate in his work this terrible recital from 
Henry, is an enigma of amateur authorship 
difficult of solution. 

Following this. Dr. Bailey says, ' 'A little more 
than a year after the massacre, Michilimack- 
inac was occupied by the couriei's de bois and 
such Indian bands as chose to make it a tem- 
porary residence; but after the treaty with the 
indians, Captain Howard, with a detachment 
of troops, was sent by Col. Bradstreet to take 
possession of it, and 'once more the cross of 
St. George was a rallying point, and the pro- 
tection of adventurous traders.'" If this be 
true, when and at what point did the British 
locate prior to the establishment of the fort on 
the island? It seems to have been assumed by 
all who have undertaken to go over this sub- 



Macktnazv in History. 



ject that when the British returned to that 
reg-ion, the}' located where seventy or more of 
their comrades had been brutally murdered. 
But this seems by no means certain. 

The descriptions given by the commandants 
at that post in 1778-9-80, in their official cor- 
respondence, do not coincide with the con- 
ditions existing- at what is now known as Old 
Fort Mackinaw. Major A. S. De Peyster wrote 
to the Governor General, May 30, 1778, "It is 
dang-erous to leave this post any long-er with- 
out a vessel to winter at it, and there is con- 
stant emploj'ment for one all summer, besides 
that the appearance of an armed vessel awes 
the savag-es who are encamped where they can 
annoy the fort without our being- able to bring- 
a g-un to bear upon them unless it be from the 
water. I hope therefore my having- armed 
and put soldiers on board this sloop will meet 
with your approbation." Even our author 
will be unable to bring- himself to believe that 
any small sloop could ride at anchor for a time 
sufficient to serve as a defense, in the unshel- 
tered water in front of the Old Fort. 

On Sept. 21, following-, Major De Peyster 



10 Mackinaw in History. 

wrote, "this is but a patched picketed fort at 
best, much incumbered with wooden houses 
and commanded even by small arms, all of 
which has been repeatedly reported before 
your arrival in Canada our streng-th here con- 
sisting- in the g-ood understanding- kept up 
with the indians made it not so necessary it 
could not be done in the place the fort is now 
situated it being- an intire sand and low 
swamp." Under date of June 20, 1779, Major 
De Peyster wrote to Capt. Brehm, the Gov- 
ernor General's secretary, a long- letter describ- 
ing- the fort defenses, in which is the follow- 
ing-: "Some time ag-o I informed His Excel- 
lency we were commanded by Sand Hills. 
Since which we have endeavored to level 
them, much has been done but we have but 
twelve spades so that there remains a g-reat 
hill still to remove. The drifts from those 
hills are like snow drifts, which we are after 
every storm oblig-ed to remove." 

As will be readily seen by those familiar 
with the Lake Michig-an shore. Fort Michili- 
mackinac was then situated among- shifting- 
sand dunes, between and among- which were 
basins of water. But this does not at all accord 



Mackinaw in History. 11 

with the conditions at the site near Mackinaw 
City. The theory that it was from there that 
the British moved when they established 
themselves on the island must be laid aside, 
and the real location soug-ht beneath the shift- 
ing- sands at some other point along- the coast. 

In a chronolog-y of that region, our author 
g-ives June 2, 1763, as the date of the mas- 
sacre at the Old Fort. Henry, whose account 
is regarded as thoroughly reliable, places it 
on June 4, and Major Etherington, the Post 
Commandant, in a letter written on the 11th, 
says it occurred on the 4th; but in a letter 
he wrote the next day, he says it was on the 
2d of June. Mr. Henry says it took place on 
the King's birthday; and since he was a good 
Briton, that would seem to add certainty to 
his date: George IH was born June 4. 

Dr. Bailey has collected but meagre material 
relative to the removal of the British from the 
mainland to the island. He states that in 
1764 the French began to move there, and 
that the settlement may date from that period. 
It is possible that he refers to the French 
Canadians, who were the bulk of the white 
population of that region. But there is rea- 



12 Mackinaw in History. 

son to doubt the authenticity of the statement 
that any number of those people left the mili- 
tary post with its advantag-es, to live apart on 
the island. They depended too entirely on 
the Post and the traders for employment, to 
admit of even the thoug-ht. They were the 
voyageui'S^ the couriers de bois, the engages, 
the men of all work about the Post, and to 
leave the fort, meant to go without wag-es and 
without supplies. In the absence of positive 
authority, the statement is hig-hly improbable. 
Fifteen years later, 1779, Lt. Governor Sinclair 
wrote the Governor General's Secretary that a 
number of those people had asked permission 
to move to the island in view of the probable 
removal of the Fort the next season, and that 
he had refused to allow them there, until he 
should hear from the Governor General on the 
matter. 

The reason for the removal of the Post to 
the island, the Doctor states, "was on account 
of its commanding- position, adaptability for 
defense with a small force, and strateg-ic 
importance;" but on what authority, he does 
not inform us. Major De Peyster made no 
mention of any such reasons for the removal 



Mackinaw in History. 13 

when he asked permission therefor. He rep- 
resented their then location as untenable and 
impossible of defense, and that the site he 
had chosen on the island afforded a high bluff 
adapted to fortification, and that the bay 
indenting- the island from the southeast would 
furnish a deep and sheltered anchorage for 
vessels. He dwelt especially on the fertile 
character of the soil on the island which 
would enable the Post to raise a large portion 
of their supplies, and thus materially lessen 
the enormous expense incurred in the trans- 
port of provisions from Montreal in batteaux. 
His successors laid stress on the need of com- 
pleting- the fortifications, on the ground that 
it was necessary in order to impress the Indi- 
ans with the strength and determination of 
the British to preserve their foothold in that 
region against all comers. 

This history contains scant recital of the 
building of the fort and its several structures, 
simply skimming over the subject without 
detail; and that too, at a time when anything 
with a flavor of antiquity is eagerly sought for 
and relished as of surpassing interest. For- 
tunately the letters of the commandants sup- 



14 Mackifiaw in Histo7'y. 

ply the material for a connected account of the 
work of construction. During- the winter of 
1779-80, as Capt. Sinclair, Lt. Governor of the 
province, wrote on February 15 of the latter 
year, a wharf had been carried out in Haldi- 
mand bay, 150 feet, into two fathoms of water, 
and was nearly filled with stone. Four acres 
had been cleared for the fort site on the bluff, 
30,000 shing-les had been made, the timber 
squared for the block houses, and 3000 cedar 
pickets (poles 18 ft. long-) had been made 
ready for the stockade on the lower ground. 
During the winter, those at work on the 
island (a corporal and six men with a band 
of Canadians), had been left without defenses, 
only having a cabin for protection. At the 
same time he had worked hard all winter in 
strengthening the stockade and building a 
block house on the mainland, while the sav- 
ages had gotten out 16,000 ft. of plank and 
boards for use on the island. 

The rebel (American) successes in Ohio and 
around the head of Lake Michigan caused 
Sinclair to fear that they would seek him out 
in those northern wilds, and he did his best 
(with poor judgment, no doubt) to forward 



Mackinaw in Histoiy. 15 

the work of construction on the island, even 
in advance of orders. On May 20 he wrote 
that he was still pushing" the work of fortify- 
ing on the main land, by means of a cover to 
the water, two land bastions and a redan at 
the extremity of the southwest curtain. On 
the island he had at that date a block house 
for the protection of the wharf, and the tim- 
bers all in readiness for three more block 
houses on the fort site, but said that for fear 
of the rebels at Detroit he did not dare to put 
them up. On June 8, Capt. Sinclair wrote 
that everyone was anxious to move to the 
island, that the houses were being- taken down 
and transferred, and that he had appropriated 
a large boat for their use in moving. On the 
21st he sent forward a memorial of the post 
traders favoring the removal, but plainly inti- 
mating that they would have a claim against 
the government for losses and expenses result- 
ing therefrom. On July 8 he wrote, "The 
indians have delivered up the island and form- 
ally surrendered it without any present." "I 
have explained His Excellency's intention to 
them to make cornfields of the whole island." 
On the same date he said "Nothing kept me 



16 Mackinaw in History. 

from the island this year but the want of a 
cover for our provisions." On the 30th he 
beg"g"ed for vessels "to transport pickets, 
boards, log"s and hay to the island." 

During- September and October Sinclair was 
sick. In addition to his physical ailment he 
was in ofl&cial trouble. He had lost the g"ood 
will of the other officers at the Post, and the 
g-overnment was becoming- aware of and rest- 
ive in reg"ard to his lavish expenditures of 
funds. He evinces fear for his safety on the 
mainland, as having- estranged Capt. Mom- 
pesson, senior officer in military command, he 
suffered a loss of his feeling of security; and 
at some time during- the winter, the exact date 
not being- given in his despatches, he made a 
panic struck retreat to the island, where 
there were scant preparations for the accom- 
modation of the 103 soldiers, 37 attaches of 
the indian department, and nearly 300 Can- 
adians who were the work people for the Post, 
and leaving behind a sergeant and ten men to 
defend a fortification with three block houses, 
more than a quarter of a mile of cedar post 
picketing pierced for 1000 muskets, and a 
store of supplies to be dealt to the Indians 



Mackinaw in History. 17 

during" the winter. He was greatly relieved, 
however, in the spring- of 1781, by receiving" 
the Governor General's order to push the work 
on the fort to completion with all speed. 

Governor General Fred Haldimand wrote to 
Capt. Sinclair, August 21, 1780, "There is a 
paragraph in one of your letters respecting" 
the name of the new fort which Capt. Brehm 
does not sufficiently comprehend to explain to 
me. It is, however, my desire that the Post 
althoug"h moved to the island, may still be 
called Michilimackinac and the Fort be styled 
Fort Mackinac." In this connection it may 
be remarked that the bay on the southeast side 
of the island and which is its only harbor, 
was called "Haldimand bay" in the des- 
patches from the time of the first mention of 
removal thither. Under the United States 
regime, this name, which has an historical 
interest, seems to have been lost. 

On May 12, 1781, Lt. Gov. Sinclair wrote to 
Capt. Brehm, "Inclosed is the indian deed of 
this island." Dr. Bailey says, p. 146, "There 
is somewhere packed away with my old books 
and papers, the original parchment deed of 



18 Mackinaw in History. 

the island of Michilimackinac, from the Chip- 
pewa indians to St. Clair. It reserved a stone's 
cast or one hundred feet, of the beach around 
the island to indians for camping- purposes 
forever." 

It would certainly seem that an historian 
would refresh his memory by consulting- the 
"orig-inal parchment" hid away among- old 
papers, before making- statements of this kind. 
But since he did not, it is fortunate that we 
can supply a copy of the orig-inal sent to Gen. 
Haldimand. Here it is: 

3B^ tbese presents we the following- 
chiefs Kitchie Neg-on or Grand Sable, Pouanas, 
Koupe and Mag-ousseihigan in 
behalf of ourselves and all oth- 
ers of our Nation the Chipiwas 
who have or can lay claim to 
the herein mentioned Island, as 
being- their representatives and 
Chiefs, by and with mutual con- 
sent do surrender and yield up 

Kitchie Negon. -^ •*■ 

His mark. {nto the hauds of Lieut. Governor 






Mackinaw in History. 19 

Sinclair for the Behalf and use of His Maj- 
esty George the Third of Great Britain, 
France and Ireland King- Defender 
of the Faith, &c &c &c His 
Heirs Executors, Administrators 
forever the Island of Michili- 
mackinac or as it is called by the 
Canadians La Grosse Isle (situate 
in the strait which joins the Lakes '^poixanas° 

Huron and Michigan) and we do hereby 
make for ourselves and our Posterity a re- 
nunciation of all claims in future to 
said Island; We also acknowledge to 
have received by command of His Ex- 
cellency Frederick Haldimand Esqr. 
Governor of the Province of Quebec, 
General & Commander in Chief of all 
His Majesty's Forces in Canada &c &c 
&c from the said Lieutenant Governor Mark of pouanas 

. , & Kausse the same 

Sinclair on his Majesty's Behalf, the nation but different 

sum of Five Thousand Pounds New 

York currency being the adequate and com- 



/ 
^ 




20 Mackinaw in History. 

pleat value of the before mentioned Island of 
Michilimackinac, and have sig-ned two deeds of 
y. this tenor and date in the presence 
//j of Mathew Lessey, John McNamara, 
'^ David Rankin, Henry Bostic, Ben- 
jamin Lyons, Etienne Campion, and 
P. Antoine Tabeau the underwrit- 
ten witnesses, one of which Deeds 
is to remain with the Governor of 
Canada, and the other to remain 

Mark of 

Magousseigan. at this Post to certify the same, and 
we promise to preserve in our Village a belt of 
wampum Seven feet in Length to perpetuate 
secure and be a lasting memo- 
rial of the said Transaction to 
yC/ _ our Nation forever hereafter, 

and that no defect in Deed 
from want of Law Forms or 
any other shall invalidate the 
same. In witness whereof We 
the above mentioned Chiefs do set our Hands 
& Seals this Twelfth day of May in the 






Mackinaw in History. 21 

year of our Lord one thousand seven Hun- 
dred and Eig"hty one and in the twenty First 
year of His Majesty's Reign. 

[signed] 

Mathew Lessey Benjamin Lyon 

David Rankin Ett Campion 

Henry Bostic P. An. Tabeau 

Patt Sinclair 
Lt. Gov. & Commandant. 

John Mompesson 
Caft. Comg. a Detachment of the King's Regt. 

R. B. Brooke 
Lieutenant King's or Eighth Regiment. 

John Robert McDonald 
Ensign King's or Eighth Regiment. 

As will be noted by the foregoing- deed, it 
makes no conveyance to St. Clair, as stated by 
Dr. Bailey, but to King- George III. Nor does 
it make any reservation of a stone's cast 
around the island for indian camping grounds 
in perpetuity. That story is simply one of 
the "fakes" which residents on the island 



22 Mackinaw in History. 

have palmed off on summer tourists, until 
they have brought themselves to believe it. 

But how does Dr. Bailey come to have the 
duplicate of this deed "packed away with" his 
"old books and papers?" The deed provides 
that it shall remain a permanent record at the 
Post. Does he mean to inform us that he is 
one of those curiosity hunters to whom 
nothing" is sacred, and that having- the liberty 
of the Post in his capacity of surgeon, this 
deed was spirited away from its proper cus- 
tody and is now lost from view amidst the 
debris of old chests and drawers in the attic? 
He says on page 196, that "many of the old 
records are lost or stolen." It is to be hoped 
that the State Park Commissioners will not 
fail to make a demand therefor as necessary 
to complete their chain of title, which will 
read somewhat as follows: 

Mackinaw Island: 

1781. Chippewa indians to George III: by deed 

of sale. 

1783. George III to United States: by treaty: 

Possession retained until 1796. 



Mackinaw in History. 23 

1812. United States to George IV: by conquest. 

1815. Georg-e IV to United States: by treaty. 

1895. United States to State of Michigan: by 

statute: in trust. 

On July 8, 1781, Sinclair reported that the 
provision store, the barracks and the maga- 
zine were up and the foundation laid for the 
officers' quarters. On the 31st he wrote that 
half the garrison and provisions for one 
hundred men for the year were within the 
works and that the remainder would be there 
before October. All this time there were 
not far from 200 men engaged in the con- 
struction of the new fort, or at least drawing 
pay for being so engaged, and the bills there- 
for going forward to the Governor General in 
large sums. In the summer of 1782, Gen. 
Haldimand sent a Board to examine and 
report upon the management of the Post and 
the construction of the fort. Their report 
with diagram attached, shows that the lines 
of the fortification were not nearly complete 
in an 3^ part; the barracks was without glass in 
the windows, only the foundation of the offi- 
cers' barracks had been laid, and no more 



24 Mackinaw in History. 

structures beg-un or completed than Sinclair 
had reported in July of the year previous. 
The eng-ineer on the Board estimated that the 
fort mig-ht be put in a condition for defense, 
on the plan he laid down, by employing- 100 
men two months. His plan was never carried 
out. Work was continued each season, but 
not sufficiently to preserve the timber work 
from rapid decay. 

Skipping- over to 1788, Gother Mann, Capt. 
Roj'al Eng-ineers, in his report on all the Posts 
of the lake reg-ion, said of the fort on Mack- 
inaw island, "The fort itself has never been 
completed, the ditches which are in the rock 
are very little excavated, and the rampart but 
partly raised, but in order to shut the place up 
from being- surprised by indians or others a 
picketing- has been raised upon it all around 
which now beg-ins to be very rotten; I had a 
part of it towards the Bay shored up while I 
was there, but the bank having- slipped from 
under the wall, there is an opening- 40 or 50 
feet long- into the fort. The soldiers barracks 
is in indifferent repair. * * * * There is a 
pile of building- of masonry intended for offi- 
cers barracks, about half finished; the walls 



Mackinaw in History. 25 

are nearly raised to their proper heig-ht, and 
the window frames put in, but the roof, floor, 
etc., are wanting-. The commanding- officer's 
house, the indian and engineers' stores are 
without the fort. There is only one front of 
the fort that has flanks, which is opposite to 
the commanding- g-round." * * * * 

"Considering- the foregoing- circumstances 
and situation of the place, I cannot help being 
of the opinion that as a military post, the 
greater part of the expense bestowed here has 
been a waste of money." And he added g-ood 
military reasons for this view. 

The transfer of the British Posts south of 
Lake Superior to the United States having- 
been accomplished in 1796, our author skims 
over that and the period to the war of 1812 in 
less than two pag-es. To the capture of the 
Post at Mackinaw on the morningf of July 17, 
1812, by the British, and the subsequent 
attempts at recapture by United States forces, 
he devotes considerable space, but in a man- 
ner which seems to indicate an absence of the 
historical sense and the spirit of research. 
After a short preliminary statement which 



26 Mackinaw in History. 

seems founded on tradition rather than auth- 
ority, he g-ives entire, Lieut. Hanks' official 
report of the surprise and capitulation of the 
garrison. This report was not written until 
Aug-ust 12, after his arrival at Detroit, with 
ample time to think it all over, and closing- as 
it does with a request for a court of inquir}^ is, 
as mig-ht be expected, a labored attempt at 
justification. 

It is an undoubted necessity in arriving- at 
the truth of military operations, to put to- 
gether the accounts of both sides. If there 
was no information accessible relative to the 
surrender of Fort Mackinaw other than Lieut. 
Hanks' report, a failure to look farther might 
be excusable. But the Dominion Archives' 
office, at Ottawa, is a vast storehouse of his- 
torical data in original letters and public and 
private documents, without an examination 
and comparison of which no historical study 
of these northwest countries can be complete. 

The reports of the capture of Mackinaw 
made by Capt. Charles Roberts to Gen. Brock 
and Adj. Gen. Col. Baynes, are very concise, 
and indeed too much so to be entirely satisfac- 
tory. This may be accounted for by the aid 



Mackina-jj in History. 27 

of the closing- sentence in his report to Gen. 
Brock, where he expresses the hope that he 
has not exceeded his instructions; as indeed 
he had. Early in September following- the 
affair at Mackinaw, Sir Georg-e Prevost, learn- 
ing- that Tanpoint Pothier, an ag-ent of the 
North West Fur Co., who had been present at 
St. Joseph island prior to, and at Mackinaw 
at the capture, had returned to Montreal 
requested of Pothier a full account of the 
aflfair, which no doubt was eag-erlj g-iven. 
His story condensed within our space is as 
follows: He arrived at St. Joseph from Mon- 
treal, July 3, and found the Post garrisoned 
by a captain, three ofl&cers and forty-five men, 
and 130 indian warriors of the Sioux and their 
neighbors from west of Lake Michigan, just 
arrived under their leader, Robert Dickson, in 
response to a summons from Gen. Brock. On 
July 9, a messenger arrived from Gen. Brock 
announcing the declaration of war, and on 
^e 10th Capt. Roberts made a requisition on 
Mr. Pothier, as the agent of the fur com- 
panies, for all the boats, arms and ammunition 
in his possession. Capt. Roberts also sent mes- 
sengers to the Sault and to Fort William, 500 



28 Mackinaw in History. 

miles distant on the northwest shore of Lake 
Superior, calling- on them for all the men and 
material in their power to furnish. A num- 
ber of men responded at once from the Sault, 
bring-ing- several field guns. (And yet Capt. 
Roberts reported that he took to Mackinaw 
only two six pounders.) The trip was made 
to Fort William and return in nine days (and 
must have been made in open batteaux). The 
indians came flocking- in from all directions, 
and the traders and their men as well. Find- 
ing- he could muster a force of 230 Canadians 
and 320 indians in addition to his reg-ulars, 
Capt. Roberts, without waiting for the aid 
from Fort William, left St. Joseph at 11 a. m. 
on the 16th, landed on Mackinaw island at 3 
the next a. m., summoned the garrison to sur- 
render at 9, and marched into the fort at 11 a. 
m. on the I7th, just twenty-four hours after 
they embarked at St. Joseph, and without 
firing a gun. 

Our author does not offer any explanation 
for this surprise and sudden capitulation of 
the garrison; but a little reading between the 
lines may be an aid at this point. Lieut. 
Hanks says that he was informed by an 



Mackinaw in History. 29 

Indian interpreter, on the 16th, that the gfar- 
rison at St. Joseph intended an immediate 
attack upon him. For fear there mig-ht be 
something- in it, he called a meeting- of the 
gentlemen on the island, at which it was 
arranged that one of them, Michael Douse- 
man, should g-o over to St. Joseph to see what 
was going- on. Leaving the island at about 
sunset, Douseman met the British ten or 
fifteen miles distant, was captured, paroled, 
and landed on the island at daybreak, with 
instructions to g-et the inhabitants out of the 
village to a point where they could be placed 
under g-uard. Later in the day the citizens 
were called upon to take the oath of alle- 
giance to the British crown, and all did so 
except four men who were sent away with the 
soldiers. But Douseman did not take the oath 
nor was he sent away. Not only this, but 
later on he was allowed to go to Montreal, 
and in 1814, wishing- to return to the island, 
he gave a bond signed by two prominent 
Montreal merchants, that he would go and 
return without g-oing- into any part of the 
United States. Michael Douseman was the 
agent of the Southwest Fur Company, of 



30 Mackinaw in History. 

which John Jacob Astor was the president. 
Between the American and Canadian fur com- 
panies there was an intense rivalry, the Brit- 
ish regarding- the fur trade as peculiarly their 
own to the exclusion of everyone else, and the 
Americans not conceding" the point. All the 
circumstances seem to point to the conclusion 
that Douseman sold out not only his fur com- 
pany, but his country also. If not, why was 
he allowed to remain on the island without 
taking the oath of allegiance? Why was it 
made easy for him to live in Montreal and 
return at pleasure to the island? What serv- 
ice had he performed for the British in return 
for these favors? For what reason did two 
prominent merchants of Montreal go on his 
bond for $20,000, that he would not while 
traveling enter United States territory? The 
bond specified that although Douseman was a 
citizen of the United States, he had been per- 
mitted to remain on Mackinaw island since its 
capture, for the transacting of his business. 
Why was Capt. Roberts in such haste to make 
his descent on the island, unless informed 
that he could do so easily, instead of waiting 
for the assistance to come from Fort William? 



Mackinaw in History. 31 

Did not Douseman meet Roberts by appoint- 
ment on the evening" of July 16, to let him 
know that everything- was favorable for the 
capture? Why was Douseman sing-led out as 
the only one to receive favors from the Brit- 
ish? While the evidence is not positive, the 
circumstances are decidedly incriminating. 

It has sometimes been remarked that cam- 
paig-n biog-raphies, written for the purpose of 
influencing- voters, were of little value from 
the historical or biog-raphical standpoint; and 
this volume has, in its closing- pag-es, ear 
marks of having- been hastily thrown to- 
g-ether, for purposes entirely foreig-n to those 
which impel a true historian to his work. A 
comparison of these disjointed chapters makes 
it evident that the author was intent on de- 
claring- his familiarity with Mackinaw, in a 
manner very like Virg-il's '"'' quortim pars mag- 
na fair He tells us that the National Park 
was laid out and the care thereof provided for 
in conformity with his sug-g-estions to the Sec- 
retary of War; that at his sug-g-estion the old 
Indian Dormitory and g-rounds were ceded by 
Congress to the school district; that he was 
the original proposer of the "Mackinaw Island 



^ NOV ^^ \ 




32 Mackinaw in History. 

National Park" bill, Act of March 3, 1875, 
and other National legfislation. Althoug-h he 
bemoans the abandonment of the island by 
the United States, the fact that this book ap- 
peared just before the Michigan State Park 
Board met for organization, before which the 
Doctor was a candidate for superintendent of 
the Park, forces the inference that it was 
intended principally as a campaign brochure. 
But literature and history are entitled to 
fairer treatment than is here accorded them; 
the summer visitors at the island, searching 
amid the bookstalls for information as to that 
historic spot, have a right to expect a well 
written statement of proven facts, or in the 
absence of those, the pros and cons of plausi- 
ble theories. We look in vain in this book for 
either. Tempted by the title to possess, the 
purchaser finds himself without the compensa- 
tions of either a pleasing style in description, 
facts succinctly stated, or what is usual in the 
modern semi-historical guide books, elegant 
and profuse illustration. 



LiBRftRY OF CONGRESS 




016 090 640 6 



